Jeopardy! is gearing up for the 2023 High School Reunion Tournament, and fans of the game show are excited to see some familiar faces. However, some noted that the contestant line-up is missing three former players—so, who’s missing and why?
‘Jeopardy!’ Producer Wants To Bring Back ‘College Energy’ In New Tournament
This is the first-ever High School Reunion Tournament Jeopardy! has hosted. The game show called on 27 former Teen Tournament contestants to return to the game show and compete for a $100,000 prize and a spot in the 2023 Tournament of Champions.
“We didn’t want to lose that sort of college energy [this season],” executive producer Michael Davies explained on an episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. “We knew we had these 27 players who are all of college age who come from our existing Jeopardy! community, so this was a great opportunity to bring them back.”
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There are many familiar faces in the contestant roster, but some have noticed that three players are missing; it was previously announced that 30 players were eligible to compete. Why were they not asked back to the game show?
Why Three Eligible Contestants Aren’t Coming Back
On an episode of the podcast, it was explained that those three contestants have prior commitments that are keeping them from the competition. “Two of them are not available,” host Sarah Whitcomb Foss said. “One of them will be our alternate.”
The commitments keeping the young contestants from taking part in the tournament are pretty good excuses. Emma Arnold, who came in second in the 2018 Teen Tournament, is studying at Cambridge and can’t make it over for the competition. Sophia Weng, a quarter finalist in the 2019 tournament, has “a longstanding engagement with a conference” during the week of taping.
Ryan Presler, who came in second in the 2019 tournament, will serve as alternate. Presler is actually still in high school—he was in the eighth grade when he competed on the game show for the first time.
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With a group of such smart young people, it’s no surprise that contestants like Arnold and Weng are already taking part in interesting projects and activities that will keep them from competing. Jeopardy! fans can’t wait to see these former players return to the game show and play for the prize!
